Rise of the Shadow: An Enemies-to-Lovers, New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel ||Book 1|| by R. A. Mayes

Author:R. A. Mayes [Mayes, R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bean Publishing
Published: 2023-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-three

EMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING

“Kid, we need to talk.” And so it begins, the father-daughter lecture I didn’t want or need.

“No, we don’t,” I replied as I threw myself onto the bed closest to the door. The room seemed secure enough. There was only one window next to Vince’s bed to worry about, and the cleanliness was better than most other places we stayed at.

“Caeli...”

He looked tired. One of his hands was stuck in his blond hair as if he was trying to physically hold the last dregs of patience in his body. Maybe he didn’t understand the consequences of the conversation I’d had on the plane with Hunter. He probably hadn’t heard what was said, and therefore didn’t understand the scope of what I’d done.

“He admitted that what he told us was a lie, including his name. And when I handed him everything about me, everything I’ve been through, and everything I am, he didn’t have the decency to hand me everything about him. What would you have me do, Vince? Pretend it didn’t hurt like a fucking shot to my stomach? You want me to just move on?” I threw my hands to the sides as I stared at him.

“I want you to forgive him, Caeli.” He could not be serious right now. While I’d expected him to take Hunter’s side on this, it still hurt for it to happen.

“I’m not having this conversation with you...” I trailed off.

The skin under my eyes was heavy, as was that permanent weight on my shoulders. I pushed myself to sit up on the bed, in spite of the heaviness that held me down.

This was getting exhausting. It felt like I just kept giving pieces of myself away, and I wasn’t leaving anything for myself.

“I’m not asking you to have a conversation about it. All I’m asking is that you listen to me, for once.” I turned to look at him. He removed his hand from his hair so he could fold his arms over his chest. Damn it. He really was about to pick Hunter’s side on this.

“Fine.” My voice was hollow and blunt. He either didn’t notice the lack of emotion or didn’t care; given the circumstances, I assumed it was the latter.

“We already suspected it was a fake name-”

“And he tried to convince us it was real, swore on his dad’s soul, which he got around because his father was an abusive piece of shit.” That was too much emotion. I definitely needed to take that down a notch. “When you two were trying to convince me to let him work with us, that was the argument he made to get me to trust him. If that’s a lie, then who’s to say what else is? What if his sister doesn’t even exist and she’s just another detail to give his story more depth? To make it more believable or to make sure I don’t question it?” I argued and ignored the pointed look he gave me. I’d always been good at multi-tasking.

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